Speaking to 1,000 drivers aged 18 and above, found that around half of that number played car driving and racing video games for over four hours each week. 

The survey of gamers revealed that Grand Theft Auto is the most widely played video game, followed by Gran Turismo, and F1.

Most Popular Driving and Racing Video Games Among Real Life Drivers

1. Grand Theft Auto series – 62 percent
2. Gran Turismo series – 54 percent
3. F1 Series – 51 percent
4. Need for Speed series – 47 percent
5. Mario Kart series – 44 percent
6. Forza series – 37 percent
7. Rocket League series – 22 percent
8. Burnout series – 20 percent
9. Dirt series – 19 percent
10. iRacing – 17 percent

The most popular car makes that gamers like to drive in games are Ferrari, BMW, and Audi, while Ford takes the crown as the brand with the most video game appearances, with Nissan, Chevrolet, and Dodge also all featuring highly.

According to gamers, the best games for driving Ferraris include Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport, and Forza Horizon. The next most popular car that gamers like to drive virtually is a BMW, with over 3,200 listings of BMW in the Internet Game Car Database. Car manufacturer BMW’s list of their favorite games to drive a BMW in includes Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, and Forza Horizon.

Percentage of Real-Life Drivers Who Say This is Their Favorite Car to Drive in Games

1. Ferrari – 13 percent
2. BMW – 10 percent
3. Audi – 8 percent
4. Lamborghini – 7 percent
5. Porsche – 6 percent
6. Nissan – 5 percent
7. Ford – 5 percent
8. Mercedes-Benz – 4 percent
9. McLaren – 3 percent
10. Aston Martin – 2 percent

The Car Models Seen in the Most in Video Games (both playable and unplayable) based on the Internet Game Cars Database are:

1. Ford Mustang – 1,006 appearances
2. Ford Crown Victoria – 931 appearances
3. Nissan Skyline GT-R / GT-R – 823 appearances
4. Subaru Impreza / WRX / WRX STI – 722 appearances
5. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution – 663 appearances
6. Dodge Charger – 592 appearances
7. Nissan Silvia – 548 appearances
8. Chevrolet Corvette – 537 appearances
9. Mazda RX-7 – 452 appearances
10. Dodge Challenger – 446 appearances
11. Toyota Supra – 412 appearances
12. Chevrolet Caprice – 219 appearances
13. Dodge Viper – 212 appearances
14. Volkswagen Golf – 397 appearances
15. Honda Civic – 368 appearances

Why is this study relevant? Well, according to Auto Trader, they found that 90 percent of gamer-drivers say that they would be interested in owning a real-life version of their favorite gaming vehicle (59 percent are very interested and 31 percent are somewhat interested).